Shouting at Tomorrow
by CinnamxnDavies
Summary: Shortly after the disappearance of his father, Natsu meets another human for the first time.


That was the first time Natsu Dragneel ever met another human. The sun had sunk beneath the surrounding treeline, and yellow light burned the sky on top. The space around him had gotten dark, filled with shadows where only faint orange filtered through the trees. Natsu wiped tears away from his eyes, but the woods still blurred into shades of blue and black and... Red?

His hope sparked up, and he seized a hold of his scarf as he ran to the flash of colour amongst the gloom. "Igneel!" he shouted the name of his father, his mouth stretching wide as he tried to make his small voice loud and clear for the giant. " _Igneel! Igneel!_ " Natsu cried that name over and over, until tears sprang from his eyes. Until he recognised that the figure was not Igneel at all: Igneel was far greater than that mere speck.

He dug bare feet into the ground, shaking his head and refusing to believe it. What he was looking at was _not_ Igneel at all, but a human cloaked in red and wandering through the woods. Natsu fell to his knees, from both exhaustion and reluctance. He had been walking all day, and that final sprint had worn him to the end... And that over there was a human. He told himself a human would only get in the way.

One of Igneel's most common lessons was that dragons are in no way superior to humans. As an arrogant child with rock hard soles and a shock of gritty pink hair, it was an instinctual pride; Natsu did _not_ need the help of a human.

After staring vehemently at the human for a long time, Natsu decided he must not have been seen. He sat back, putting the weight of his body onto his ankles, and looked at the sky.

Powder blue had faded to indigo, and the stars seemed to shine red. "Igneel... _Why did you leave me!?_ "

As Natsu broke into loud sobs, his shoulders throbbing and his teeth clenching, he became receptive of the figure in red approaching him. The stranger placed his muscular hand in the pink tufts of Natsu's hair, and then the man was crouching in front of him. Only a mouth with a sharp set of canines was visible beneath the obscuring hood. "You'll find him."

Natsu hiccupped, kneading at his tearful eyes. "I-I-I-I hope so..."

He looked up at the man, his eyebrows creased in pain, and his olive eyes wide – he was still crying. The man in front of him smiled, it was a sad kind of smile, one that hid the odd-shaped teeth from Natsu, and when he tried to reach out with his small hands and pull back the hood, his hands covered in those much larger, more tanned hands that belonged to the older man. "Who are you?"

The man let out a hum of thought, as if the question were one he was struggling on, but that could not be the case... could it? Natsu knew his own name, and this man must know his own name, too. "Ah! How about you call me Ashita?" the man asked, a grin appearing.

"That's not your real name... Is it?" Ashita didn't respond, and Natsu raised a thin, pink eyebrow. "Are all humans this weird?"

"They're even worse."

" _Huh!?_ "

Now Ashita was throwing his head back and laughing, and Natsu focused on the face. He hoped to find a better clue to Ashita's appearance, but he could not even make out the shape of a nose, let alone the colour of his eyes or hair. Natsu stood, uncomfortable. Even while both of them were on the floor, this strange man was looming over the young dragon slayer, and he did not enjoy feeling small. "C'mon, kid, I'll stick with you so you don't get lost in these woods," Ashita offered, holding out a hand for Natsu to take.

Natsu stared at the hand in front of him for a long time, the skin was tan, and rough with dirt – not quite as rough as Natsu's though. Natsu placed his hands behind his back. "You aren't going to help me find my dad? He's a dragon, and his name is Igneel... He's been gone for days."

Ashita swallowed, and his hand dropped. On his two feet, Ashita pulled the hood down more, not letting it slide back away from his face at all. "Sorry, but that's something you're gonna hafta handle on your own. I can't help you."

" _Why not!?_ " Natsu demanded, his hands balling into fists.

Ashita was walking away from him without pause. " _Oi! Big guy! Why not!?_ " Natsu shouted again, and he finally gave up giving chase to Ashita for fear of being abandoned again. His hand in a tenuous grasp around Ashita's red woollen cloak, Natsu followed the mysterious stranger. He had nothing better to do.

When the light began to fade, he saw one of Ashita's hands raise, and his eyes lit up with the reflection of the flame Ashita held. He let out a startled gasp seeing those flames and realizing that Ashita was a mage. Natsu would not lose, and soon let go of Ashita's cloak to carry his own flame. The only reaction Ashita had to this was a slight huff, and Natsu narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he tried to make the fire bigger.

Ashita smirked. The fire in his hand grew.

The silly game continued until Ashita set fire to a tree by accident, and the crisp leaves burned in moments, the fire conquering trees one by one, until they were both surrounded by a blazing accident and Ashita was holding Natsu in his arms as they rushed away from the scene of the crime. Ashita let out a curse as Natsu watched the only home he had ever known burn beneath thick clouds of smoke.

The moon had risen into view by the time they were both well away from the fire and smoke, and although Natsu had no doubt that both of them were fire resistant, he could imagine trees falling, and rain made of ash that he knew would not have been pleasant. He glared at Ashita, who was facing away from him. Covered by the hood, the stranger attempted to create a campfire with the wood they salvaged. He was sitting cross-legged in the dirt patch, and Natsu pouted.

He should be able to make something out about Ashita, but it simply wasn't bright enough. What he could confirm was that it was light hair, worn in a spiky fashion. " _You burnt down my home!_ " the young boy shrieked, his voice cracked and hoarse from holding back tears.

"Your home isn't there." Ashita finally had a small flame going, just enough that he wouldn't need to continue to use his efforts to keep up a light source. "Go to sleep now, Natsu."

If Natsu was suspicious that Ashita knew his name, he did not show it. He gave the man a heavy kick to the back that made him shout in surprise, and then, Natsu was curled up on the floor, holding the end of his scarf to his naked chest like it were a teddy.

When Natsu opened his eyes next, the sun had only just raised enough to paint the sky a soft shade of yellowy blue. "Good morning," Ashita had greeted him, the cloak raised over his head. Natsu's lips tugged down at that, and he sat up from the floor.

His eyes flicked towards the ghosts of trees, far away, foggy with smoke and ash that still had not settled. "How am I supposed to find Igneel, now?"

Ashita was busying himself with cooking two large fish, and did not waver from his work as Natsu looked at him with sad eyes.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

"Yeesh, are you really this _annoying_?"

Natsu breathed in through his nose. "How do I find Igneel now that the woods are gone?"

"Igneel wasn't in those woods." Ashita shrugged.

The soung of hollow winds and the crisp smell of burning wood fuelled their silence. The information was taking Natsu a moment to consume, being much tougher to chew than fire would ever be.

He cleared his throat, standing strong and tall, although he was still about as high as Ashita's thigh. "What do you mean?" Natsu asked in a voice, strong for a child his age.

"You need to keep lookin', no matter what you do." Ashita explained, finally turning around and facing Ashita – since Natsu was standing while Ashita sat, they were nearly at equal elevation. He propped his shoulder on his knee, holding his head up with his palm on his cheek. Now, the hood covered only the top of his face and head, his mouth and nose clearly visible as he smiled again. "Look for him and you will find not just him, but more: friends, family, adventure... Maybe you'll even find yourself a pretty girl some day! Not that girls really matter that much to you yet, anyway... But don't ever give up. Alright, kid?"

Natsu seemed slightly relieved by this, and he gave a warming smile. "How long do you think it will take to find him?"

Ashita inhaled sharply as the question took him aback. "Well..." he trailed off, looking away. For the first time, Natsu thought Ashita seemed sad. What had Natsu done to make Ashita seem so sad? "That's difficult to answer, N...Natsu..." The dragon slayer thought he saw a flinching in Ashita's nose, and he knew that he had heard the sniffle to go along with it.

Just like the kid he was, Natsu had to understand this further. "Why's it so difficult?"

More silence.

Before Natsu could push further, Ashita sniffed again, his hands rubbing at eyes hidden beneath the cloak. "It will take a long, long time. But you need to stay strong."

A drop of water rolled down the visible part of Ashita's face.

"Why are you crying?" Natsu asked, rubbing at his own eyes: when had they begun to leak again? "I sh-should be the one who is..." he sniffed, "who is... _crying_."

Ashita let out a humourless laugh as he grabbed Natsu by the shoulder, and Natsu didn't argue as the stranger pull him into a hug. On both sides, it was desperate, and the two males clung to each other, having no one but each other in that moment. Ashita wept silently, but Natsu screamed and shouted, and sobbed until his throat and eyes all became dry. Neither Ashita nor Natsu knew how long it went on for. Perhaps it was hours, perhaps minutes. The former was more likely, since by the time they had let go of each other the sun was high in the sky.

There was an awkward few minutes of silence that passed between them after they let go of each other, and Ashita busied himself by pulling the cooked fish away from the fire, and taking a bite out of one of the pieces. Natsu attempted to eat the campfire flame, but for some reason, it felt wrong to eat it. He could not swallow it. So instead, he settled for the charred black piece of fish.

"Ashita isn't your real name, is it..?"

"No, Natsu."

"It's the word for tomorrow... Right?"

"Yeah... It means tomorrow."

Natsu looked at the floor, and in a flash, he understood a few things about Ashita: the magic, the convenient appearance, the hidden identity.

"Ashita..."

"Yeah?"

"What's going to happen tomorrow?"

Ashita huffed, and Natsu looked again at the man's teeth as he smiled. His canines were pointed, just like Natsu's. "I'm going to go back to where I belong, with all my friends, and protect them. I've been away from them for long enough, this was just one last detour," Ashita said, looking skyward. The smile on his face was faint, and held sadness. Natsu wondered what he saw in the cotton candy clouds. "You need to create your own path, and there are some things that you're going to want to shout about, but in the end, it's all going to happen whether you like it or not. Right?"

Natsu bit his bottom lip, his cheeks puffed and hands fisted as he looked at the ground. He gave a slow nod. "Thank you, Ashita."


End file.
